The website of the Pacific Northwest Medical Journal contains an article titled, "Curing Obesity through Sterility: California's Controversial Program Under the Microscope". According to this article San Francisco has a publicly funded program to allow obese men to get free vasectomies. The idea is to stop them breeding in order to eliminate the gene for fatness from the population. This cannot be real. I've never heard of such a program and can't imagine it getting funded. But if it's a hoax (which I assume it is), it's a curiously elaborate one. All the other articles on the site appear to be quite serious. Why go to so much trouble for one hoax article? When I did a search to find out who the PNMJ.org website was registered to, it listed KLAF Television in Shreveport, Louisiana as the owner. That doesn't really help explain anything.

This is Raoul's Rule: "All things in moderation, including moderation." This wisdom came to me in a waking dream, where I was lifted by the full-bodied aroma of rich, Corinthian leather. Its musky fragrance moved me to tears, and from this I learned many things. Rrrrraoul

That said, this is definately a hoax - and an offensive one at that. Saying that obese men "have been deemed genetically inferior to the normalized median of homo sapien development" and therefore should receive free sterilization opens the door to sterilizing people who are genetically at a higher risk of high blood pressure and diabetes (i.e. African Americans), which leads to eugenics.

(The Domino Theory lives!)

Posted by Karen in Reno on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 01:23 AM

Just had a thought...Why are they only offering to sterilize obese men? Do they think that obese men are more likely to get some than obese women, and are therefore more likely to produce offspring? Yes, okay, the article says that vasectomies are a popular form of permanent contraception, but what about those obese women who have relationships with men who may or may not be obese? Or do they believe that the obese 'gene' is carried in the Y chromosome?

Posted by Smerk in to mischief on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 02:00 AM

"That said, this is definately a hoax - and an offensive one at that."

Sorry, but I can't concur. It's first-rate satire.

Posted by Paul in Prague in errr... on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 02:42 AM

morbid obesity is NOT genetic.
peoples bodys metabolic rate are different, so it may be harder for someone to lose excess body fat. putting blame on your excessive amount of fat tissue because of genetics is lame. everyone has the power to eat healthy and get off thier buttocks and burn a few calories.
its not genetic to be morbidly obese, but a learned behaviour. parents ,who happen to be fat because of poor diet and never having time to workout inbetween reality shows, soaps, drama series, give thier children pre-packaged fattening calorie dense junk food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then let the tv and video games be thier main activity, its going to create an adult who doesnt know how to cook and eat the proper foods, and hates to move thier body except to go to the kitchen and lift the remote control and/or game controler.

in my insentive opinion there is no reason to weigh 300+ lbs.

Posted by My Opinion in your head on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 03:31 AM

Actually, the only genetic weight-gain I've heard of is related to other disease - ie, diabetes and abnormal thyroid functions - both are hereditary (yay, I can look forward to suffering from either of these later in life, looking at my family. Bye-bye to my lithe figure!) However, both of these diseases can be brought under control with diet, medication & exercise, and usually help with the weight loss too.

Posted by Smerk in to mischief on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 03:54 AM

Diabetes and abnormal thyroid? You got lucky.

For my family it's depression and retinoschisis.

I'd much rather go through thyroid removal surgery and the replacement drug coupled with injecting insulin and watching my diet than having to live with what I currently do.

Not to say that it would be a walk in the park, but neither is the crap I have to deal with daily.

Lithe? Prove it...

Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 04:11 AM

Hey Rod, do you want a picture of me in a thong? Give me a bit more practice and I'll be able to pick a coin up from the ground in my mouth while still standing...6 inches/15cm to go!

Also have the risk of depression (although that may not hit until menopause - many years down the track). My eyesight's already up the creek with severe shortsight and astigmatism - end result, no visual aids, no can see past the end of my nose - literally!

Posted by Smerk in to mischief on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 07:27 AM

This is Fate. I, too, have lost a great deal of my eyesight since my arrival here, but my Vision is undiminished, my sight for all things far and away has not suffered. In fact, I have come to rely upon my many senses, chiefly touch, taste, and smell. These things are for our true nature, not the fleeting images that pass so readily from view. So, do not send Raoul any pictures of you in a thong, for I, Raoul, The Psychic Gangster of Love, already know of your beauty, for, you are a woman, and all women are magnificent. Ciao Down Under. Rrrrraoul

Posted by Raoul on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 08:23 AM

I think hoaxes like this are not only funny but necessary, too. Journalists need to check their facts. It's absurd that they can get caught so easily.

Posted by whatever on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 10:31 AM

Mmmmm.... Smerk in a thong...

Wow, there must be a lot of traffic today, MOH is slower than ever. Not that that's a bad thing.

Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 10:34 AM

What the hell happened to my smiley?

Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 10:37 AM

Yesterday, according to my site statistics, there were 70,000 unique visitors to the site, producing over 500,000 pageviews, and downloading 6 gb of data. We'll easily top that today, although it remains to be seen if anyone will actually be able to get the site to load.

Posted by The Curator in San Diego on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 10:42 AM

Did you get many new Members out of the deal?

Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 03:04 PM

Smerk in a THONG?!?!?!!!

Where?

When?

Why?

We always miss the good stuff?
DARN.....

Rod, to make your winking smiley dude work when typing it out you must remember to insert the nose. ; then - then ) and you get

Posted by Mark-N-Isa in Midwest USA on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 03:14 PM

I see.

It just didn't know because the only one that I have typed out until now, (sem, rt brkt) didn't need a nose.

Better?

Did ya miss the one of ME wearing a thong?

Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 04:06 PM

I'm kinda sad because you're no longer using it as your avatar...Never mind, you did email it to me!

Posted by Smerk in to mischief on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 07:05 PM

Ok. Ignore that last post. I was getting some guy's head as your Avatar last night, Rod. It's now back to you in a thong.

Posted by Smerk in to mischief on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 08:16 PM

Some guy?

Did he look much like a bald, fanged, beer and mspaint induced version of Alex, perhaps?

Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 08:52 PM

Yes! I thought I was imagining the fangs, though. He didn't have fangs while I was at work, then later that evening, white marks out the corner of his mouth (I thought he was frothing at the mouth really). Hmmm, was it supposed to be a rabid vampire, maybe?

Posted by Smerk in to mischief on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 09:08 PM

Vampire? I'm not really sure, I was just playing around. The one where I gave him the afro just looked WAY too fake, so I didn't even save it.

Some day I'll have to play with paintshop enough that I can make the afro look convincing.

Hmm, maybe I'll play with the pic again tonight (it's 8:30 pm here) and see what I can come up with.

I'm limiting myself to mspaint because it's such a simple program, and my computer's so slow that paintshop just becomes a PITA when I use it.

Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 09:39 PM

Hmmm...my maths is really dodgy. Does that mean you're 14 hours behind me? It's nearly 11am here...It's also really confusing how the date/time thing works on the whole site too. Sometimes it's in my local time, other times it's not.

Posted by Smerk in to mischief on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 09:56 PM

Yup, fourteen, from what I can find...

If you're where you say, and I'm where I say...

Yes, sometimes all it takes to screw up the time on this site is to refresh the screen, and I lose two hours, I'm not sure why...

Hmm. Maybe I'll give him a little makeup when I get into mspaint, or do the afro better...

Or both

Hey, it's almost time for the return of Hairy!

Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 10:24 PM

Maybe you could deck him out in drag? Can't wait for Hairy to get back. It seems as though he's the only one who can make Raoul go away.

Posted by Smerk in to mischief on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 10:43 PM

This one will have to do for now...

Damn, you can't really see the devil eyes when it's in my avatar, guess I'll have to work on that...

Posted by Rod in the land of smarties. on Thu Mar 31, 2005 at 11:01 PM

Damn, between the lack of knowledge and the excess of whiskey, I can't seem to make it look right. (not that I'll stop trying, though... maybe tomorrow)